A youth from Narendrapur who went to meet his friends at Eco Park in New Town was allegedly picked up in a car and detained, while the accused made a ransom call to his family demanding Rs 3 lakh, police said.
Saikat Purkait’s family alerted Narendrapur police station. Officers at the police station contacted their counterparts in the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate and tracked him down using his mobile phone location.
Three men have been arrested for the alleged kidnapping on Tuesday.
The police said their investigation so far suggested that the victim was part of a group that traded in cryptocurrency and differences cropped up among the members over a recent deal they had struck in Howrah.
The police said a dispute over money could be the reason for the alleged abduction.
Officers at Narendrapur police station said Purkait’s family lodged a complaint saying he was called to meet his friends near Eco Park and was taken hostage.
The officers said Purkait, in his 20s, did not have a formal job. The Telegraph could not contact his family to verify the statement.
“The family lodged a complaint saying they received a ransom call demanding Rs 3 lakh. We started tracking the location of the victim’s phone and found that it was in the Bidhannagar commissionerate area. We contacted Bidhannagar police and jointly zeroed in on a car near Eco Park, from where Purkait was rescued,” said an officer at Narendrapur police station.
Three persons inside the car were arrested on charges of kidnapping for ransom, the police said.
After being rescued, Purkait is said to have told the cops that he received a call on Tuesday afternoon from a friend who asked him to meet them in Howrah. The location was then changed to an address on SP Mukherjee Road and finally to Eco Park.
“According to him, they are part of a group that deals in cryptocurrency. He said they had recently struck a deal in Howrah. As part of the deal they were to get money for transferring cryptocurrency. Apparently, there was a tiff over this deal and that led to the abduction,” the officer said.
Narendrapur police contacted officers at Golabari police station in Howrah. A team from Howrah went to Narendrapur police station on Wednesday to share information about the purported cryptocurrency deal.
Body found in pond
Police recovered the body of Partha Chanda, 35, a resident of Ambari on the outskirts of Siliguri, from a pond on Wednesday morning. An e-rickshaw driver by occupation, he was missing since Monday.